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Day 8: IDF Calls Off 100s of Strikes Due to Noncombatants; First Direct Israeli Fatality; Neil Young Donates

by TheTower.org Staff |

The eighth day of Operation Protective Edge is over.

The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday:

The IDF has destroyed around a third of Hamas’s rocket arsenal, half of its rocket production facilities, as well as a large portion of homes used as command and control centers by Hamas brigade and battalion commanders. Hundreds of storage facilities hidden underground have also been destroyed. …

Hundreds of planned air strikes did not receive the green light from IDF brass, due to the risk they posed to Palestinian noncombatants, meaning that a large number of vital Hamas operational targets were left untouched by Israel.

The Times of Israel reported that an Israeli was killed by a mortar blast at the Erez Crossing. He was the first direct Israeli fatality in the week old conflict today.

The man, 37, whose name was not initially cleared for publication, was treated by a medical team that arrived at the scene, but was pronounced dead at the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon a short while later. He was a volunteer who came to distribute food to the soldiers in the area. Another man was lightly wounded in the attack.

While the Iron Dome defense system has become a crucial factor in Operation Protective Edge, as it was able to shoot down dozens of rockets from Gaza that would have otherwise fallen on inhabited areas, the advanced mechanism cannot intercept mortars fired at targets in proximity to the border.

Although his Tel Aviv concert this week was cancelled due to security concerns, rocker Neil Young will make donations to two projects to foster co-existence.

“It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we must cancel our one and only Israeli concert due to tensions which have rendered the event unsafe at this time,” a representative for Young said in a statement. “We’ll miss the opportunity to play for our fans and look forward to playing in Israel and Palestine in peace.”

In the same statement, Young said, “I will be making donations to both the Louise & Tillie Alpert Youth Music Center of Israel, and Heartbeat, two organizations that teach music to Palestinian and Israeli youth simultaneously by enabling them to play music together.”

Israel has warned an estimated 100,000 residents of the east and north Gaza Strip to leave their homes in anticipation of a strike in those areas tomorrow.

Earlier today the Tower covered the ceasefire agreement that Israel’s security cabinet approved this morning and a conference call with former Ambassador Michael Oren on the implications of the ceasefire. A recording of the conference call is here.

Israel held up its end of the ceasefire for six hours despite a barrage of 50 rockets fired at its citizens over that time.

The asymmetry between Israel’s care for noncombatants and Hamas’s reckless disregard for civilians was highlighted in a statement issued today calling for support of Israel and condemnation of Hamas by the Friends of Israel Initiative a group of international notables headed by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Anzar.

While ordinary Gazans are suffering from the policies of Hamas’s leaders, the leadership of the terrorist group lives in luxury.

[Photo: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Flickr ]

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